1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related generally to paint spraying machines, especially those utilized to prepare panels that can be used as paint standards. More particularly, the invention relates to a spray machine that is controlled automatically by a computer system that allows diverse spray procedures to be quickly and easily selected.
2. Description of Related Art
Automated paint spraying systems are well-known for use along assembly lines. As an example, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,003 (`003), issued Nov. 2, 1976 to Fagan and Bania. `003 discloses a system comprising conveyor means that carry an object by a spray gun, that is controlled by memory means that have been programmed with data relating to object style and object position relative to the spray gun. U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,742 (`742), issued June 19, 1973 to Racz and Higgins, has similar disclosure.
Spray machines also are well-known in the paint industry, for use in preparing painted panels. Certain panels serve as standards. Other panels are then compared against the standards, and if there is a color or other quality discrepancy, the batch of paint with which the panel was sprayed is modified accordingly.
A typical spray machine uses a spray gun with drive means that are capable of being set to control horizontal and vertical movement of the gun, as well as speed of the gun. Other variables of the spray machine capable of being set include the number of passes of the gun (related to paint fan spray pattern of the gun), the flash period after each coat (to allow solvent evaporation), the width of the spray stroke, the number of coats of paint and the like.
Any particular paint will have unique spray characteristics and the spray machine must be set accordingly so that spray times, gun traverse velocity, flash interval times, vertical panel indexing and the like are compatible with the paint being sprayed. Prior to the present invention, such variables were set manually, which required extensive time. Once a machine was set for a particular paint, it was dedicated to be used only with that paint and not used for other paints because of the lengthy time required to readjust the machine. However, with the computer controlled spray machine of the present invention, a single spray machine can easily and quickly be adjusted to spray all types of paint.